Return to Current Issue

Repeatedly discriminated against based on her age, race and gender, Maria Gonzalez of the the Day Labor Organizing Project told hundreds of community leaders from across the country crowded into a hot, blistering room about her personal experiences with day labor agencies in Chicago.

Gonzalez's story of facing sweatshop-like conditions and discriminatory practices was one of the many testimonies on the problems within the American workforce at the 30th annual National People's Action conference.

Community leaders working on issues ranging from day labor abuses, minimal funding for youth summer jobs and lack of access to quality training programs, all confronted representatives from the Department of Labor on its poor response to the continual problems in the American workforce.

Also attending the meeting were staffers from the offices of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MI), Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI), and Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) speaking on behalf of the Congressional members agreed to attend community hearings in NPA cities. Not present, but also willing to attend these hearings was Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL). The community hearings will take place this summer and fall in Springfield, MA, Muskegon, MI, Minneapolis, MN, and Chicago, IL.

Before setting forth demands to the Department of Labor in the jobs workshop, leaders told painful stories on discriminatory and abusive tactics day labor agencies use to intimidate workers and to make the most money off of them.

The representatives from the Department of Labor also listened to the problems with the mis-implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) on the local level. WIA, which is supposed to provide training to low-skilled and displaced workers, is either denying people access to training or training too many people in one or two areas where there aren't enough jobs.

Emma Caballero, from the Anti-Displacement Project in Springfield, MA told horror stories about the for-profit agency, FutureWorks, involved in delivering WIA services in their area. In February and March, 50 Anti-Displacement Project leaders secretly tested FutureWorks to see if people were getting the training they needed.

The results-every single leader was denied access training. One leader was told by a FutureWorks employee, "you don't need a GED to work at Burger King."

The workshop turned its focus on how John Beverly, Director of Adult and Dislocated Services and Lorenzo Harrison, Administrator of Youth Services from the Department of Labor could respond to these problems and a list of NPA demands.

Luis Sepulveda, from the Northwest Neighborhood Federation in Chicago acknowledged that although "we really wanted Secretary Elaine Chao to attend, we spoke on the phone early this week and you understand that you are speaking on behalf of the Secretary. So, Mr. Beverly will you work with NPA to create a pilot program that will fund organizing low-wage workers centers in 6 of our cities?"

After several unsuccessful attempts at trying to take the microphone from Sepulveda, Beverly tried to take control of workshop. And again he failed. When refusing to answer the first question, Sepulveda moved to the second question. After the second "NO" from the Department of Labor, the crowd began chanting "Two Nos, you got to go!"

Both Beverly and Harrison were kicked out of the workshop.

Later that day, 400 leaders from NPA paid a visit to the Secretary's home in an attempt to get better answers from the Department of Labor. Security was tight around the house, but NPA leaders managed to get close to the front door.

Trying to avoid NPA, Chao snuck out the back door.